The efficient, safe, and secure shipment of freight, including but not limited to correspondence, materials, goods, components, and commercial products, is an important component in today's business, particularly in view of the international nature of most business enterprises. Freight often is shipped nationally and internationally by means of several different transportation devices, such as trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes. Before the freight reaches its destination, it is often handled by several different entities, such as truck companies, intermediate consolidators, railways, shipping companies, and airlines.
The parcels of freight may be exchanged between entities at different transfer points or hubs. At each hub, the parcels may be separated and transferred by different vehicles to different destinations. The parcels may be unloaded from a vehicle and then loaded onto another vehicle one or more times.
The driver of each vehicle may be provided with one or more documents with identifying information for the parcels to assist in tracking the locations of the parcels in a computer system. For example, when the driver loads or unloads the parcels, the driver may scan the documents so that the computer system may be updated regarding the locations of the parcels and whether the parcels have been loaded or unloaded.
Because the driver enters the identifying information for the parcels each time the parcels are loaded or unloaded, this tracking process may be time consuming and relatively inefficient. Also, there is an increased risk of driver error, for example, if the driver forgets to scan the documents or scans the wrong documents, which may increase the risk of delay in shipping or loss of freight. Also, since the identification information may be provided on the document handled by the driver and not on the parcels themselves, there may be an increased risk of delay in shipping or loss of freight if the driver misplaces the documents.
The disclosed method and system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.